100 Moments
by Jeice Lover
Summary: Every person's life has it's moments, and his life is just like any other. 100 moments, thoughts, and memories from the life of Konekomaru Miwa. (100 Theme Challenge 'fic) Warning: Can range from Friendship fluff to major Angst.
1. Introduction

"Go on now, little one, say hello." He poked his head out from behind Mr. Suguro's leg, staring at the two boys standing there. The two of them were about the same age at him, and were staring at him to hard that he ducked back behind Mr. Suguro's leg. The man chuckled and turned his head back to look down at him. "Come on, don't be shy. These two want to be your friends." He looked at the two and nodded. "Go on and introduce yourselves, boys." One of them, who had an extremely harsh glare, spoke first.

"My name's Ryuuji, Ryuuji Suguro. I'm heir to this temple." The other boy, whose eyes were sleepy and his face more passive, waved carelessly at him.

"And I'm Renzo Shima! I like girls and I hate bugs!" Cautiously, he poked his shaven head around the head priest's leg, staring at them as best as he could.

"What's your name?" Ryuuji asked with folded arms. Feeling self-conscious and shy, he let his head poke out from behind Mr. Suguro a bit more, then whispered his name.

"I'm Konekomaru Miwa," and then he ducked his head back behind Mr. Suguro. The man chuckled and patted the young boy's head.

"See, now? I think you three will get along just fine."


	2. Love

"_What does love mean to you?_" He had been pondering this question ever since the teacher had given them the worksheets. It was a single piece of paper, with this question printed across the top and a big blank space below for the student to write their answer. Konekomaru had stared at the sheet for quite a while, not writing anything down, and not really knowing what to write. A thousand thoughts on what it could mean to him raced through his head.

_It could be cats, I really love cats_. No, this was too simple, and it didn't seem deep enough of an answer for this. _Milk, maybe? I like milk._ No, this didn't seem right either. He just couldn't put his finger on it, what **did **love mean to him. 'Love'. Four letters, one word, so many different meanings.

"Konekomaru!" He looked up from his little table and glanced out the window. He saw Bon and Shima waving at him from outside.

"Come on! Let's go play!" A realization came to him, and he smiled gently. He quickly scribbled down his answer and ran out to join them.

_Love is my friends._


	3. Light

He woke up slowly, as always, blinking a few times as he rubbed sleep from his eyes. He went through his usual morning routine. Uncurling from the ball he always curled up in during sleep, stretching out his arms and back, placing his glasses onto his nose and making sure he could see. He neatly rolled up his futon and pushed it off to the side, keeping everything neat and tidy as it should be. Once all this was done, he would go to his door and open it wide.

The bright, warm sunlight shone down on him. He closed his eyes and let the warmth and light wash over him. The sun and light always made him feel good. The light let him know that there was life out there. The light chased away the night, brought forth a new day where he could be with his friends.

He turned his face upwards towards the light, letting it wash over him. He took a deep breath in, and slowly let it escape his lungs. As he finished this up, and allowed his appreciation and thanks for the light fill him up, he scurried off, to enjoy the day that the light brought with it.


	4. Dark

He was lying alone, the only shield he possessed was the thick, warm comforter over his body. All of him was tucked under the heavy fabric, in a way that would almost be called snug under any other circumstances. But right now, in his situation, it was the only thing he could remotely name as safety.

All around him, in the dim moonlight that came through the open windows, the long, spindly fingers of shadow creatures reached out with each second. They moved with the moon, growing closer and closer to him as he laid there. It never took long before the darkness rolled over him, covering him with a second blanket of shadow. He shivered, even though he was warm. A second was all he took to peek out from under his blankets. All he saw was two things.

Moonlight and the dark.


	5. Seeking Solace

Konekomaru sniffled and wiped at his nose as he went down the side path of one of the temple's many walkways. He was covered with dirt, water, and a couple of bruises here and there. It had been just another run-in with the neighborhood bullies. They hadn't done much, just pushed him down and poured water on him. It still hurt, though, especially with the one who had shoved him to the ground. The thing that really hurt was when they called him names. Whoever said that little tidbit about words not hurting like rocks and twigs had it all wrong. The words hurt more than the physical pain. They had called him things like 'loner', 'midget', and 'orphan'. This last one hurt the most out of all of them.

He came around a tree and saw who he was looking for. Konekomaru quietly walked up behind her and tapped her on the shoulder. Mamushi whipped around, startled at the touch, but breathed out when she saw it was just him.

"Oh, Konekomaru, you startled me." It took a second, but her eyes widened and she started. "What happened to you?! You're covered in dirt!" He looked away, not wanting to answer. Mamushi impatiently motioned for him to sit in front of her. He obeyed and sat in a seiza position as she whipped a small cloth from her pocket. Mamushi quickly set about wiping off his face. "You've got bruises, too," she muttered under her breath as he winced when she pressed on a particularly tender spot. While she was wiping him down, she both reprimanded and questioned him. "Oh, it was those bullies again, I just know it was. Wait until I get my hands on them. Who was it, Koneko? Who did this to you?" Again, Konekomaru avoided her eye.

"No one, I tripped," he mumbled. Mamushi opened her mouth to speak again, but one look at his face made her sigh and calm herself.

"Look, Konekomaru, I understand that you want to deal with this yourself, but it's not helping if you just let those bullies get away with it. You need to stand up for yourself, yes, but not if it means this!" She finished wiping him down, and took a good look at his face. There wasn't much physical damage, perhaps only a small bruise on both his cheek and arm. Mamushi sighed and patted her lap. "Come here." Konekomaru obeyed and laid his head on her lap, letting her gently pet the softish bristles of hair growing on his head. They stared out at the view of the mountain in silence for a while. "...So, what did they do?"

"Pushed me," he admitted. He was feeling calmer, and he could sense that she was as well. "... called me names."

"What kind of names?" He didn't respond, and Mamushi sighed and resumed petting his head. "Okay, if you don't want to tell me now, you don't have to. Just tell me when you're ready, okay?" There was silence again, as they stared at the towering, strong mountain and listened to the gentle movement of the wind. "Don't worry, it will be okay," she whispered. Konekomaru closed his eyes and finally smiled, those were the exact words he had needed to hear.


	6. Break Away

He is all alone, nothingness surrounds him in a black void. He cannot make himself move. He feels the creature flex his hands, no, talons. The demon's limbs had become an extension of himself, and the demon was controlling him totally. It whispered in his head, telling him to kill the son of Satan, he would protect those he cared about if he would just allow it to take control. He had foolishly allowed this, and now it was all over. It had him, and he realized too late that it would never ever let him go.

He had heard them, and tried to take back control of himself, but to no avail. He had almost felt it, almost felt himself slipping from the thing's grasp. But then the talons had tightened around him, and he was pulled right back in. He could feel the wind brushing by as he was lifted higher and higher into the air, away from the desperate shouts of his real friends. He could do nothing to stop it. It was all over.

_Ko..eko..aru. _He gasped, he knew that voice. That familiar voice was breaking through the darkness, shining a beacon for him to follow. He opened his eyes and looked down, saw the dot of blue light on the ground below.

_Okumura..._

"Please, trust me! JUMP!" He clenched his fists, feeling himself separate from the demon. He had one chance, the demon was desperate and was trying too hard to get away from danger. He let out a cry from the effort, and jumped.

He was free-falling through the air, the wind pushing past him. He felt an arm encircle him, and heard the demon shriek in pain as it died. He tumbled on the ground, landed on his back. He was breathing heavily, exhausted, but he had done it.

He had broken free.


	7. Heaven

A warm futon. Good food. Flowers all about. A cat to sit in the lap.

A hug when the storm turns scary. A kiss on the forehead just because. A smile and laugh to bring the sunshine to the dark corners.

The scent of cut grass. The cool breeze to blunt the scorching day. A touch of sunlight on the skin to bring that extra gift of warmth.

A pair of arms to protect and comfort. A pair of eyes to show they understand.

These are the things that make up heaven.


	8. Innocence

He could be considered innocent in a couple of ways. For one, he never knew what he should do around girls. Either he would do something unintentional that would make them laugh, or else it would be something embarrassing that would cause his friends to groan good-naturedly. He would never know what to do if a girl were to hug or (goodness forbid) even kiss him. Hand holding, in his own theory, perhaps he might be able to do that. However, to the most of his knowledge, he was totally uneducated the ways of the area of romance.

He was not innocent, however, on the topic of death. Death meant that a person was gone. They had gone to the 'other side'. To 'heaven' or 'hell' or whatever place their beliefs and actions may have led them to. Death was final. Death was the end of all. Death was what had taken his parents away from him.

On death, he was not innocent.


End file.
